Trendy Gamers: Checkmark Games’ Dark Delve is a classically styled dungeon crawler/turn-based RPG. In a day and age when even the genre’s 800-pound gorilla Final Fantasy can’t seem to figure out what type of animal it wants to be, it’s nice to see that old-school RPGs can still be fun and relevant. While Dark Delve doesn’t weave a compelling narrative thread, it does provide ample opportunities for exploration and for strategic thinking in combat, with up to four customizable characters. Gamers willing to overlook an overall lack of polish will find an engaging adventure at a very low price.
"No matter what format, what system or what game you are developing for, there are certain things that can doom your game regardless of how good or bad it is from the start. While this article is written with a focus on XBLIG’s, much of these apply to any indie game developer looking to make a dollar off of their game."
Critical Gamer's Luke K writes: If you’ve already read parts one and two – and why on Earth wouldn’t you have? – you’ll know that my comments on DLC so far have been overwhelmingly negative. The digital distribution of games and add-ons can be a force for good, however; demonstrably so. It’s done a lot of good not only for business but for us cash-wielding consumers, too, and it will continue to do so.
ZX Spectrum classic "Manic Miner" may appear on XBLIG (not XBLA) soon, courtesy of Elite Systems; if it passes the peer review process that is.
